Connectors for conveying electrical signals and power are used in a wide variety of applications, including commercial and military vehicles. The design of connectors are particularly complex for large structures such as commercial aircraft because of the large number of electrical wires and cables scattered throughout the structures. The complexity of managing the electrical connections is exacerbated by the requirement for connections of different sizes and arrangements to fit different applications and by the need to ground the large number of wires spread throughout the structure.
The need for different connections requires the use of differently sized contacts and connectors that are arranged in various configurations. To avoid installing the wrong component in a connector, it has been customary to introduce structural distinctions in the mating components of the connectors to ensure that the correct connector component is installed in the correct location. As a result, the number of different connector components that need to be stocked in inventory is multiplied, and may reach beyond a thousand for a large structure such as a commercial aircraft. Such a practice is inefficient and costly from the stand point of manufacturing and storage as well as installation.
Under current practice, it is also costly and inefficient to modify the electrical connections in a structure such as an aircraft, which generally requires cutting out panels to accommodate a different wiring configuration every time a change is to be implemented.
The grounding scheme currently used generally requires indirect grounding through multiple intermediate grounding levels or interfaces for some wires. This is especially common in large structures with substantial wiring spread throughout, and such a practice introduces high resistance to ground. The lack of a robust grounding scheme also necessitates considerable labor time devoted to grounding during the structure or vehicle assembly level. This further increases cost and time to install the electrical connections for the structure.